Excellent During WWII you saw Kilroy Everywhere. Now? Kilroy Was Here--And Still Is! by RaymondJohn

Category:  Essay Non-Fiction   Posted:  February 17, 2006      Views: 403

RAYMONDJOHN  IN PRINT   ABOUT RAYMONDJOHN  Raymond John is a hopeless FanStory addict who has at times spent as many as twelve hours in a single day reading, reviewing and writing for the site. His three purposes are based on three "Es" which are Explain, Enlighten and Entertain. His greatest fear is to take himself too seriously. He may not always smile, but he always has a twinkle in his eye. Knock his socks off with a fantastic write and he'll be your best cheerleader and give you a banner award, to boot. He has written two novels and numerous short works. His first book, The Cellini Masterpiece, has sold nearly 3,000 copies and received an Honorable Mention in the 2006 IPPY awards. It is now available in a Kindle edition from Amazon.com. An audio version (ISBN 9780615268125) is now available read by the renown actor, James Cada. MP3 edition, downloadable for IPOD, is 14.95. Order at www.raymondjohnbooks.com. His second mystery, Mix and Match Murder, which was originally scheduled for release in September of 2008 is now in print and available from Amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com and North Star Press. A scholar born in the golden age of radio, Raymond always appreciates hearing a well-told story, especially one with action and believable dialogue in a historical setting. I have written and received many reviews. I have a thick skin, so if constructive criticism is forthcoming, bring it on. He has won several contests. The contest submission Mousie, Kittie and Booger was the first place winner in the contest Tales of the Weird.. Gold In Them Thar Words was the first place winner in the contest Tales of the Weird.. Lot 386 was the first place winner in the contest Tales of the Weird.. He is a top ranked author and is currently holding the #22 position. Portfolio | Become A Fan I was five years old when World War II ended. I didn't know much about the war except that one of my cousins had gotten a Purple Heart in France and the other was a Captain in the Adjutant General's office. I also knew that my father served as an air-raid warden during the war and drove around the neighborhood with shaded headlamps wearing a warden's helmet. Anyone caught with their lights on got a warning. We used the pump can he carried in the trunk to put out fires at our cabin for years after until it finally rusted out. June of '45 was also the summer I met Kilroy. He was chalked on a boxcar standing in front of the grain elevator across the road from my Grandmother's house on East Junius in Fergus Falls, Minnesota. I discovered him when my 7-year-old girlfriend, Annette, and I went to visit the kittens that lived in the mill. I asked my father about the long-nosed man peering over the top of a fence. He told me that everywhere American soldiers went they would draw him and the slogan "Kilroy was here." It meant that Americans were everywhere. But this was on a boxcar and there weren't any soldiers in Fergus Falls. How did it get there? Dad didn't know. Years later, my history teacher at Sanford Junior High showed a news reel with Kilroy painted on the side of an LST. I asked about him, and my teacher told me that Kilroy was a Naval Yard Inspector in Boston and that "Kilroy was here" meant he had inspected and okayed the war materiel on its way to Europe and the Pacific. He also said that Kilroy allegedly loved a woman named Rosie. Rosie broke his heart by moving to California. She became another WWII icon, Rosie the Riveter. I asked him if he knew why Kilroy would be on a boxcar in northern Minnesota. He had no idea, either. Grandmother died in 1956. While we waited for the funeral to begin I checked out the mill hoping to find a new litter of kittens, and happened on an older man who was sleeping there. He woke up suddenly, wide-eyed, then relaxed when he realized I wasn't a police officer. He had been run out of railyards all the way from Winnipeg. My long ago image of Kilroy came to mind and I asked if he knew why riders of the rails drew him on the boxcars. He chuckled. It was code for hoboes to know that the place they were visiting was safe from hassling by police and railroad inspectors. The stationmasters and inspectors would erase the rest of the graffiti when they found it, but they left Kilroy alone. He had become something of a national symbol. He also said that all the hoboes laughed at Kilroy and his long nose because he was supposed to represent the Jewish owners of the railroads. The implicit racism bothered me, but I didn't say anything. My new friend told me that he still saw Kilroy here and there, then eleven years after the end of the war. I'm glad to say Kilroy is still alive and well fifty years later. A CNN report from Iraq showed a military transport with him spray-painted on its side. I enjoyed seeing him again. Recognized Share your own writing! - Information on our membership for writers. Pays one point and 2 member cents.

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